TIME FLIES
by thew40
Summary: The crossover continues! Chapter Two is loaded! Please R&R!
1. Chapter One: A jester goes to the STARs

TIME FLIES by thew40  
  
This is my first animated DCU fanfic, so please bare with me. I hope you like it. I'm not going to reveal too much because I don't want to ruin any surprises. Enjoy!  
  
DISCLAIMER: This story is written for entertainment purposes and not for profit. DC comics owns all this crap. (  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter One: A jester goes to the S.T.A.R.s  
  
The busted windows of S.T.A.R. labs gave no indication of the activity inside. When the premiere research laboratory in the world (located in Metropolis) was burnt to a crisp, the researchers and scientists moved to another, much more improved facility. There were no casualties save one – and that was counting the various microbes and animals.  
  
The one that didn't make was a man named Thaddeus Eddington. A brilliant man that kept himself locked in a sub-basement lab. He never made it out. All of his research was destroyed. Every computer was melted, every system crashed. Whatever he was working on – it was gone forever.  
  
Even the back-up disks that were stored in the fireproof vault and were constantly up-dated contained no record of his research.  
  
So, the S.T.A.R. scientists considered their comrade dead and they grieved at his funeral. A picture of Dr. Eddington still sits in the new Laboratory across town, a constant reminder of a man lost. But, life must go on.  
  
Every now and then, someone will look at that picture and think of when he was alive. Even still, they will drive by the old, condemned laboratory and remember past times.  
  
Yet as time passed, memories fade and rumors build. One such rumor about a secret vault that contained mind-bending chemicals made its way all the way to Gotham City. Even farther – all the way to Arkham Asylum.  
  
All the way to the Joker.  
  
And when he learned of this rumor, he decided it was time to celebrate. Just how did he celebrate? He busted himself and Harley Quinn out of Arkham Asylum and the two made their up to Metropolis to find these 'chemicals.'  
  
"Hurry it up, Rocko!" shouted the Joker as one of his henchmen pried open a very large vault door.  
  
"I is gonin' as fast as I's can!" Rocko replied.  
  
"And don't talk back!" Joker replied, smacking him on the back of the head. "We've got to do what we've come to do, then skidaddle before the big 'S' shows up!"  
  
"Hey Mr. J!" shouted Harley running up from the basement. "I think I found something!"  
  
Joker rolled his eyes. "Oh, my oh me. What could this be?"  
  
He walked down a long set of stairs and came upon a large steel door, which Harley was standing in front of. Joker's eyes went incredibly wide.  
  
"It was all blocked with debris and stuff. I cleared it."  
  
"Yeah yeah. Outta the way."  
  
He pushed her to the ground, then went straight for the door. It looked completely burnt on the frame, but the bolts still seemed in place. He turned the hatch and sprayed some acid from a perfume bottle on it. The door opened with a grind.  
  
Before him were some computers and a view large devices. One such device was a tube with what looked like a lazer pointing at it. The power had long since died in this room, but there seemed to be a glow coming from a desk on the other side of the room.  
  
The Joker walked over and opened a drawer. Inside was a steel box that seemed to be glowing. He pulled the box onto the desk and attempted to pry it open. No luck. He then used his buzzer on it. The lock shattered and the box flew open, revealing the source of the light.  
  
It was a strange cube with odd golden designs on it. The Joker's eye went wider still with love for this amazing cube.  
  
He saw a journal next to this cube. He pulled it out and read the text within it.  
  
'This so-called Mother Box recovered during the invasion by Darksied is far more powerful than originally thought. I have been able to pierce the secondary array of commands – especially those concerning the teleportation system called the Boom Tube. By focusing the laser fire and readjusting the confinement beam, I believe that time travel is possible. I have found successful, but there is not enough processing power in any of the computer here to handle the on-going temporal calculations.'  
  
The Joker looked up from the journal . . . and laughed his head off.  
  
***  
  
Lex Luthor stood behind his desk, his eyes looking out upon Metropolis. While Superman was reportedly gone on some sort of mission with the rest of the Justice League, he still had to contend with Steel and Supergirl. Business was not doing so well.  
  
Suddenly, a loud crash from his office door snapped his attention. He spun around and saw the one man he was in NO mood to see. The Joker.  
  
"Lexy ole buddy, ole pal! It's me, the Joker, stopping in to see you!"  
  
Lex sighed. "What do you want with me, you psychopath?"  
  
"Well, I was in town and wanted to know if you wanted to go into a little business deal with me."  
  
Luthor gave him one stern look, then turned around. "No."  
  
"Are you sure? Because someone kind of casually left this little MOTHER BOX laying around . . ."  
  
"You're joking."  
  
"Am I?"  
  
Turning back around, Lex Luthor was surprised to find a Mother Box resting in the hand of the Joker.  
  
"My god . . . Joker . . ."  
  
"Surprised? Heh heh. It only gets better. Take a look at this."  
  
He tossed Luthor the journal. Luthor read some of it, then back up at the Joker. "So, Joker, what was this 'business deal' you had in mind?"  
  
"Well, heh heh heh, once we get this thing up and running, we go into the future, raid it, come back here and sell what we stole there."  
  
"How far are we talking?" asked Luthor.  
  
"Forty years, give or take."  
  
"Hmmm. The only problem is we need something to process the temporal calculations. Nothing I can't handle. Of course, as soon as we start this thing up and sell future technology today, the Justice League will stomp on us."  
  
"Well, Lexy, then that means we'll just have to keep them busy, won't it?"  
  
"A crime wave. Perfect. Joker, you have a deal."  
  
"Score!" 


	2. Chapter Two: Riding the crimewave

Chapter Two: Riding the Crimewave  
  
Three weeks later . . .  
  
  
  
Douglas Johnson walked across the street in the Crime Alley section of Gotham City. He looked left, then right, then headed into a small alley. There stood two other men, one with a brown paper bag.  
  
Douglas pulled out a wad of twenties.  
  
"Where'd you get the cash?" asked one of the men.  
  
"I just got it, okay? Just give it to me?"  
  
"Count the money, Mac."  
  
Mac, the man without the bag, reached over and yanked the money out of Douglas' hand. He counted it quickly, then nodded. He turned to his friend with the bag.  
  
"Give it to him."  
  
Just as the man with the bag was about to pull out a select choice of narcotics, a dark blur fell over them all. Mac was slammed against the ground, while Douglas was pushed to the ground. The man with the bag could only shout "it's him! It's the Bat!"  
  
Batman took him down as a finality, then spun around took back off into the night sky after tying them together.  
  
He swung up onto a rooftop and sighed. The night had been hard. Crime all over the place. Nightwing was on the East Side, helping against Killer Croc. Batgirl was tracing down some leads that might have led to the Penguin. Robin was helping against some gangs in another part of Crime Alley. And Batman . . . well he was just out doing what he could.  
  
"Batman . . ." a voice said in his cowl radio.  
  
"What?" replied Batman. "What is it, Superman?"  
  
"I just thought you should know . . . Hawkgirl, J'onn and GL are heading to Cantora seven. Some sort of asteroid collision."  
  
"Good for them."  
  
Batman leapt up from his position and rammed into a mugger on the street. Like a shadow into the night, he disappeared then.  
  
"Are you even listening to me?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
Batman soared into the air once again, leaping from one building to another.  
  
"Bruce."  
  
He stopped dead in his tracks. "No. Not right now. Not while on duty."  
  
"Right. Sorry. But listen to me, okay? Metropolis is just as bad as Gotham right now. And with this little disaster in space, there aren't many of us to handle this incredible crime wave."  
  
For the second time in one night, Batman stopped once again. He saw something out of the corner of his eye. Something . . . or someone . . .  
  
"I'll get back to you, CLARK. "  
  
"Right. Just . . . keep in touch, okay?"  
  
***  
  
Superman received no answer, reach didn't really surprise him. He was very use to Batman throwing him off like this.  
  
He took into the sky from the Daily Planet rooftop and headed into the night sky. There was a lot going on here in Metropolis. Supergirl had just checked in – Livewire was once again defeated. Steel was handling the increase of street crime – all of which seemed to be played off from money. Someone was supplying these people with a lot of cash and Superman wanted to know who it was.  
  
Luthor, of course, was his first suspicion. He ALWAYS was.  
  
But he had to move beyond his first guesses. It was something he had been trying to do for a while now.  
  
Superman headed off towards the bay. Trouble was brewing and he knew he would be needed. He always was.  
  
***  
  
The asteroid spun from the planet's surface and into the darkness of space.  
  
"A job well done, Green Lantern," said J'onn from the Justice League's ship. "The asteroid has been successfully pushed away from the planet and does not seem to come into another one's path."  
  
"Good," Hawkgirl said as she entered the ship behind J'onn. "There's some man here that claims to be a friend of Superman."  
  
J'onn spun around to face a large, pale, black-haired alien. "Hey greenie! Name's Lobo!"  
  
He slapped J'onn's hand, hoping to shake it. "Greetings Lobo. What busy do you have with the Justice League?"  
  
"I just thought I'd warn – 'cuz I was in the neighborhood – that there's trouble comin' to Earth. Someone's messing around with some heavy machinery there and you're all gonna be in a world of hurt."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"Eh, long story. Let's just say you guys are gonna be getting one heck of a visitor pretty soon. You best prepare."  
  
With that, Lobo left Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, and the Martian Manhunter alone. Green Lantern turned to his two teammates.  
  
"Was it just me, or did that sound like a threat?" asked the Lantern.  
  
"Perhaps. Or maybe it sounded like that because it was so dire."  
  
***  
  
Batman made his way down the alley, chasing after what he was beginning to think was a ghost. One minute, he'd see it – the next gone. And now? A dead-end.  
  
"Come on out . . . Selina."  
  
He spun around, to see Catwoman standing behind him. "It's a good thing you caught me. I wasn't going to tell unless you did."  
  
"Oh?" asked Batman, curious as to what she was hiding.  
  
"Yeah. Loving this crimewave?"  
  
"Mmm. You know me to well. So, what is this information you have for me?"  
  
She walked over, her hands rubbing against his shoulders. He took her arms and held them tight. "Always so formal."  
  
"And you were always so . . . flirtatious."  
  
She grinned at him. "You wanna what's really up with this whole crime wave?"  
  
"If you're willing."  
  
"I always am. The question is . . . are you?"  
  
Batman stood still. "Maybe."  
  
She continued her grin. "Mmm. Well, okay, good enough." She turned around and backed away from him. "It's not the crime wave you should be worried about?"  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"No. This crime wave is a distraction. Someone is manufacturing it."  
  
"How much of it?"  
  
"All of it?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Even the asteroid?"  
  
"What? No. That's probably natural, but definitely well-timed." She paused. "It's the Joker. He's working with someone with a lot of money. They're working on some sort of top secret project. The rich man is getting some new technologies to put on the market. The Joker is getting highly advanced chemicals."  
  
"Great. Do you know who this rich man is?"  
  
"No. But I have my unconfirmed suspicions."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"And this would be?"  
  
"Well, who do you know that's almost as rich as you, if not richer?"  
  
"There are people."  
  
"Well, then I'll give you an even bigger hint. Who do you know that lives in Metropolis?" 


End file.
